COVID continues to surge, Korean President goes Down Under, and Sesame Street now has a Korean-American character
K-NEWS BITES
Mon 2021-12-13 (KST)
[Weekender] Candidates miss the target with younger voters (4 min read)
Democratic Party of Korea nominee Lee Jae-myung and Yoon Suk-yeol from the People Power Party are both failing to appeal to young voters. “They have both struggled to shed the kind of ‘kkondae’* image that the under-40s find repellent, and their election pledges have failed to inspire them… In an effort to attract young people, the candidates have started recruiting young campaign workers and popular figures in their election committees… Pundits expect the candidate who presents policies that resonate with voters in their 20s and 30s will become the winner of the election.”
*”Kkondae is an expression describing a condescending person who forces their outdated way of thinking onto other people. It is often used to refer to older people in the context of generational gaps.”
Car ferry resumes operation on Incheon-Jeju route for 1st time in more than 7 years (1 min read)
“A car ferry set sail from South Korea's western port of Incheon to the country's southern resort island of Jeju on Friday in the resumption of the route in more than seven years following the deadly sinking of the Sewol ferry… The route had been closed since April 2014, when the 6,800-ton Sewol ferry sank off the country's southwestern coast, killing 304 people, mostly high school students on a school excursion to Jeju. “
New KBS President Declares Independence from Politics, Capital (1 min read)
“The new president of KBS, Kim Eui-chul, has declared the public broadcaster's independence. In his inauguration ceremony Friday, the new chief declared to the public that KBS will not be swayed by society's vested interests including politics or the power of big money. He said the broadcaster maintains its distance from relevant power-wielding factions such as the parliament, government and advertisers, aiming to secure independence as a public media firm.”
Health experts call for toughest social distancing measures yet (2 min read)
“[Epidemiologists’] warnings and calls for stronger measures reflect the gravity of the situation, in which daily infections and critical cases keep increasing and the medical system is on the verge of overload… Chon Eun-mi, a professor of respiratory medicine at Ewha Womans University Mok-dong Hospital, warned that if no stricter measures are taken immediately, the country's medical system could collapse, as the number of daily infections could possibly reach 10,000, or even double in just a couple of days.”
In Korea’s worst surge, more patients die waiting for hospital beds (4 min read)
“29 patients died at home in the last five weeks without ever being admitted because no hospital had beds to accept them… [Since] Nov. 5, 442 more patients developed symptoms requiring intensive care -- more than triple the number of beds that could be mobilized over the period… As resources become depleted, the statement said, patients who have lower chances of survival were being admitted on the condition that they agree to do-not-resuscitate orders. Patients suffering from other medical conditions were asked to sign a form saying they understood the possibility they might not be able to continue treatment or receive surgeries while in isolation for COVID-19.”
New COVID-19 cases below 7,000 for 2nd day; critical cases at fresh high (2 min read)
“The country added 6,689 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total caseload to 517,271… and is the largest ever daily caseload for any Sunday since the pandemic began last year. The number of critically ill COVID-19 patients reached an all-time high of 894… The country added 43 more deaths from COVID-19, bringing the death toll to 4,253. The fatality rate stood at 0.82 percent. The KDCA has confirmed 15 more omicron cases, raising the total to 90.”
“Starting Sunday, the government cut the dosage interval between primary vaccination and booster shots to three months from the previous 4-5 months… [Nationwide] 81.2 percent, have been fully vaccinated, with 12.4 percent having gotten their booster shots…”
“The government also plans to begin running visiting vaccination services at schools on Monday to have more adolescents get inoculated.The so-called vaccine pass system will be applied to more business facilities, including restaurants, cafes, cram schools and internet cafes, starting on Monday after a weeklong [grace] period. Only fully vaccinated individuals or those with a negative COVID-19 test result can visit those facilities, and any violation will lead to fines for both users or facility owners.”
General COVID Information for residents in Korea:
Ministry of Health and Welfare, South Korea
Coronavirus Statistics for South Korea
China looms large as South Korea uses visit to seek Australia’s help (3 min read)
“South Korean President Moon Jae-in will use his visit to Australia to show his country can be a partner to the United States in the region amid fears Asia’s fourth-largest economy is being left behind by the members of the Quad… South Korea has adopted a more cautious approach than neighbouring Japan to China’s increasingly assertive foreign policy because of its reliance on Beijing to negotiate any future peace deal with communist North Korea, [as well as its economic ties with China]. That has left it out of key negotiations in an increasingly febrile international environment.”
S.Korea’s president, top diplomat attend global summits excluding China (3 min read)
“The US President hosted the two-day Summit for Democracy to rally the world against the backsliding of democracy and the resurgence of autocracy, gathering leaders and officials from over 100 countries, including India, South Korea, Taiwan, and Ukraine. Notably, the South Korean president is one of the 12 world leaders, including Indian and Canadian prime ministers, who attended the closed-door Leaders’ Plenary Session hosted by Biden.”
Biden imposes first sanctions on North over human rights (1 min read)
“The United States imposed fresh sanctions on Pyongyang’s new Defense Minister Ri Yong-gil, animation studios and other people and entities in North Korea, China and Russia for human rights violations Friday… This marked the first new sanctions on North Korea over rights issues since the launch of the Joe Biden administration and coincided with International Human Rights Day. The latest designations highlighted the rights abuses of law enforcement agencies in North Korea and foreign companies and institutions that hired North Korean workers, including a Russian university.”
Gov't Recommends Emergency Security Update for Critical Vulnerability in Logging System (1 min read)
“The Ministry of Science and ICT said on Sunday that it was calling for an immediate security update via the website ‘bohonara,’ which is affiliated with the Korea Internet and Security Agency,” and is widely used. “The recommendation comes after foreign media reported that a serious code execution vulnerability was found in Log4j, an open-source Apache logging system framework used by developers for recordkeeping within an application. The flaw is considered highly dangerous as it can enable remote code execution, giving an attacker the ability to completely control and compromise affected machines.”
KOTRA attracts investors via metaverse platform (1 min read)
“The event was KOTRA's [Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency] first investment consultation event using the virtual reality [metaverse] platform. Through the metaverse platform, KOTRA aimed to offer investors an alternative to attending face-to-face meetings amid the ongoing pandemic. The meeting was designed to help investors directly choose companies they are interested in and have time for in-depth meetings in an independent virtual space,’ the agency said. Not only did potential investors and foreign investment companies participate, but there were also about 70 domestic investment customers, including local governments, the Free Economic Zone Authority and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, KOTRA added.”
[Herald Interview] Meet Ji-Young, a Korean American ‘Sesame Street’ kid’s dream come true (3 min read)
Omg there is now a Korean-American Sesame Street character !?! “Puppeteer Kathleen Kim is behind the beloved show’s first Asian American Muppet in its 52-year history.” The article is a summary of a recent interview with Kathleen Kim, the Puppeteer behind the character Ji-Young. The article also contains some photos of Kahtleen and the Ji-Young character. If you want to see more, here is a 10 min 19 sec video of Ernie introducing Ji-Young, and here is a 2 min 39 sec example episode with Ji-Young!
Yoo Jae-suk named best comedian of the year for 10th consecutive year in poll (1 min read)
“[The] 49-year-old took first place in the entertainment broadcaster/comedian category of the ‘person of the year’ for the tenth straight year, gaining 56.9 percent of votes… Yoo, who appeared on popular TV variety shows, such as MBC's ‘Infinite Challenge,’ KBS 2TV's ‘Happy Together,’ is currently active on variety shows like SBS's ‘Running Man,’ tvN's ‘You Quiz on the Block’ and MBC's ‘Hangout with Yoo.’ In the poll, Kang Ho-dong came in second with 15 percent, followed by Park Na-rae (9 percent), Shin Dong-yup (8.9 percent) and Lee Su-geun (5 percent).”
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